Account settlement method in online shopping

ABSTRACT

An agent device is connected to a user device for browsing a merchant site, for selling products online and being served up on the Internet, the merchant site, and a server device of a credit-card company. In the case where an instruction of purchasing a product browsed by the user device is output, the instruction is sent to the agent device. The agent device extracts a credit card number of a credit card held by a user having purchased the product, and inquires of the server device of the credit card company whether the product is to be purchased with the credit card. As an inquiry result, in the case where the product can be purchased online with the credit card, the agent device sends an instruction that the user purchases the product online with the credit card.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a technique for settling an account fora purchased product, using settlement means, such as a credit card,etc., in an online shopping system through the Internet.

2. Description of the Related Art

Along with the wide use of the Internet, merchant sites for sellingproducts appear on the Internet, and various online shopping servicesare provided up to today. Conventionally, in the case where to purchasea product through any of the merchant site, an account for a purchasedproduct is generally settled based on a credit card number which hasbeen input by the user who ordered the product.

However, a technique for settling an account for a purchased product, inconventional online shopping systems, has the following problems.

Every time a user purchases a product, he/she needs to fill in aparticular ordering form with required information such as his/her name,address, credit card number, etc. This is quite troublesome for anyusers. Even if the user has purchased a product from the same merchantsite in the past, the user needs to input the required information.Since there are various types of ordering forms among merchant sites,the user has to fill in the ordering form in accordance with anoperational rule of each merchant site.

Every time a product is purchased, it is necessary to send the user'scredit card number, etc. to a merchant site through the Internet. Thus,there is a great possibility that personal information is leaked out onthe Internet, and that damages to computer systems as caused by“cracking” are found.

Further, in the case where to purchase a product online, the credit cardfor use as settlement means for settling an account of the purchasedproduct is limited only to a type of credit card specified in themerchant site. Those users who do not hold the type of credit card whichis specified in the merchant site have to give up purchasing the productin the end, unless he/she desires to get a new credit card which isspecified in the site. Such problems have prevented the popularizationof the online shopping.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is accordingly an object of the present invention to eliminate theneed for performing inputting of data when a user purchases a productonline.

Another object thereof is to prevent leakage of personal informationonline and to enhance the security, when a user purchases a productonline.

Still another object thereof is to settle an account for a purchasedproduct without the restriction of settlement means specified by theside of a distributor, and to facilitate the sales of products.

In order to achieve the above objects, according to the first aspect ofthe present invention, there is provided an online shopping systemcomprising:

at least one user device which is connected onto Internet and forreading a merchant site on the Internet;

an agent device which is connected to the at least one user device andthe merchant site, relays and sends a purchase instruction from the atleast one user device to the merchant site; and

a settlement device which is connected to the agent device, and settlesan account for a product purchased in accordance with the purchaseinstruction sent from the at least one user device,

the at least one user device including

-   -   purchase-instruction inputting means for inputting an        instruction for purchasing a product on sale in the merchant        site, and    -   a first purchase-instruction sending means for sending ID        (identification) information of a user, as a first purchase        instruction, together with information regarding the product        input by the purchase-instruction inputting means to the agent        device, and

the agent device including

-   -   user-information storage means for storing the ID information,        user information regarding the user, and information regarding        settlement means held by the user, in association with each        other,    -   purchase-instruction receiving means for receiving the first        purchase instruction sent from the first purchase instruction        sending means,    -   user-information extraction means for searching the        user-information storage means for user information based on the        ID information of the user which is included in the first        purchase-instruction, and extracting corresponding information        regarding the user and corresponding information regarding the        settlement means, when the purchase-instruction receiving means        receives the first purchase instruction,    -   second purchase-instruction sending means for sending, as a        second purchase instruction, information regarding the product        and being included in the first purchase-instruction received by        the purchase-instruction receiving means, and information        regarding the user and being extracted by the user-information        extraction means, to the merchant site, and    -   settlement requesting means for requesting the settlement device        for settling an account for the purchased product, based on the        information regarding the product and being included in the        first purchase instruction received by the purchase-instruction        receiving means and the information regarding the settlement        means of the user and being extracted by the user-information        extraction means.

In the above-described online shopping system, the user of the userdevice can purchase the product on sale online in the merchant site,without the need for inputting the information regarding the settlementmeans (e.g., credit card, etc.) or his/her name every time the userpurchases a product. The same user interface of the purchase-instructioninputting means can be employed for purchasing products in variousmerchant site. Hence, the user need to perform the same operation forpurchasing products in the merchant sites. This eliminates the need forinputting the user information, and facilitates an easy operation forpurchasing the product. The information regarding the settlement meansof the user is not directly transmitted to the merchant site, thuspreventing the leakage of the personal information of the user. Thisenables having the high security system.

In the above-described online shopping system,

the agent device may further include inquiry means for inquiring whetherthe settlement means is valid, based on the information regarding thesettlement means of the user which is extracted by the user-informationextraction means. In this case,

the second purchase-instruction sending means for inserting informationrepresenting that inquiring may be included in the second purchaseinstruction so as to be sent to the merchant site to the merchant site.

In the above-described online shopping system,

the agent device may further include obtaining means for obtainingconvenient-settlement means, for use only in settling the account forthe product purchased in accordance with the first purchase instructionreceived by the purchase instruction receiving means, and which differsfrom the settlement means of the user. In this case,

the second purchase-instruction sending means may insert informationregarding the obtained convenient settlement means into the secondpurchase instruction, and send the second purchase instruction to themerchant site.

In this case, the information regarding the settlement means (e.g., thecredit card number, etc.) held by the user is not to be leaked out. Thisenhances the security of the system. In this structure, the merchantsite can sale products online in accordance with the conventionalprocess.

The settlement device may include a plurality of settlement devicesrespectively corresponding to various types of settlement means. In thiscase,

the obtaining means may obtain, as the convenient settlement means,settlement means corresponding to a type of settlement means which isspecified in the merchant site, and

the agent device may further include settlement storage means forstoring information regarding the account for the purchased productbetween a settlement device corresponding to the obtained convenientsettlement means and the merchant site, and information regardingsettlement of the account for the purchased product between thesettlement device which is requested to settle the account by thesettlement requesting means and the user, in association with eachother.

According to the above-described structure, the final settlement isachieved among a plurality of owners of the settlement devices, based onthe recorded data of the settlement storage means. In this structure,even if the user does not hold the settlement means which is specifiedin the merchant site, he/she can still purchase a product from the site.Because the settlement means is not limited to the ones specified in themerchant site, the sale of the products online can be facilitated forwide use.

In the above-described online shopping system, it is preferred that theagent device and the settlement device are connected with each otherthrough a private line.

In the above-described structure, the information regarding thesettlement means held by the user is transmitted only through a privateline, thus eliminating the possibility that such information is leakedout at a communications path. This enables to provide a high securityonline shopping system.

In order to achieve the above objects, according to the second aspect ofthe present invention, there is provided an online shopping method for auser of a user device to purchase a product on sale in a merchant site,in an online shopping system comprising:

the user device which is connected onto Internet and for reading amerchant site on the Internet;

an agent device which is connected to the user device and the merchantsite, replays and sends a purchase instruction sent from the user deviceto the merchant site; and

a settlement device which is connected to the agent device, and settlesan account for a product purchased in accordance with the purchaseinstruction from the user device, and the method comprising:

a step of pre-registering ID information of the user, informationregarding the user, and information regarding settlement means held bythe user, in association with each other in a database of the agentdevice;

a step of inputting an instruction for purchasing a product on sale inthe shopping site which is read by the user device;

a step of sending, as a first purchase instruction, the ID informationof the user together with information regarding the input product fromthe user device to the agent device;

a step of searching the database for user information based on the IDinformation of the user which is included in the first purchaseinstruction, and extracting corresponding information regarding the userand corresponding information regarding the settlement means, asperformed by the agent device which has received the first purchaseinstruction;

a step of sending, as a second purchase instruction, informationregarding the user and being extracted from the database from the agentdevice to the merchant site, together with information regarding theinput product; and

a step of requesting, from the agent device, the settlement device forsettling the account for the input product, based on informationregarding the settlement means of the user and being extracted from thedatabase.

In order to achieve the above objects, according to the third aspect ofthe present invention, there is provided a user device which isconnected to Internet, browses a merchant site on the Internet, andsends an instruction for purchasing a product on sale in the merchantsite, the user device comprising:

purchase-instruction inputting means for inputting a purchaseinstruction of a product on sale in the browsed merchant site;

product-information extraction means for extracting informationregarding a product to be purchased from contents of the browsedmerchant site and information regarding specified settlement means; and

purchase-instruction sending means for sending, as a purchaseinstruction, the information regarding the product and being extractedby the product-information extraction means and the informationregarding the settlement means, together with ID information of a user,to an agent device which is prepared separately from the merchant siteand intermediates in a purchase process between the merchant site andthe user device.

In the above-described user device may further comprise:

merchant-site determination means for determining whether the merchantsite is browsed; and

instruction-input permission means for permitting, when themerchant-site determination means determines that the merchant site isbrowsed, an input of an instruction from the purchase-instructioninputting means.

In the above-described user device, the purchase-instruction inputtingmeans may be prepared separately from instruction means included in thecontents of the browsed merchant site.

In order to achieve the above objects, according to the fourth aspect ofthe present invention, there is provided a user device including amemory for storing a program, a processor for executing the program, aninput device for inputting an instruction of a user, a display devicefor displaying information, and a communications device fortransmitting/receiving information with a merchant site served up onInternet, wherein the processor executes the program stored in thememory, thereby:

accessing the merchant site from the communications device, andcontrolling the communications device to receive contents of themerchant site;

displaying the contents of the merchant site which are received by thecommunications device on the display device;

permitting the user to input an instruction for purchasing a product onsale in the contents of the merchant site which are displayed on thedisplay device;

extracting information regarding the product to be purchased from thecontents of the merchant site displayed on the display device andinformation regarding specified settlement means; and

controlling the communications device to send, as a purchaseinstruction, the extracted information regarding the product and theinformation regarding the settlement means, together with ID informationof the user to an agent device, which is prepared separately from themerchant site and intermediates in a product purchase process betweenthe user device and the merchant site.

In order to achieve the above objects, according to the fifth aspect ofthe present invention, there is provided a method for browsing amerchant site served up on Internet using a computer device, and forsending an instruction for purchasing a product on sale in the browsedmerchant site, the method comprising:

a step of inputting an instruction for purchasing the product on sale inthe browsed merchant site;

a step of extracting information regarding the product to be purchasedin the browsed merchant site and information regarding specifiedsettlement means, when the instruction is input; and

a step of sending, as a purchase instruction, the extracted informationregarding the product and the information regarding the settlementmeans, together with ID information of a user, to an agent device whichis prepared separately from the merchant site and intermediates in apurchase process between the computer device and the merchant site.

In order to achieve the above objects, according to the sixth aspect ofthe present invention, there is provided an agent device which isconnected to a user device for browsing a merchant site served up onInternet, the merchant site, and a settlement device for settling anaccount for a product purchased in accordance with a purchaseinstruction from the user device, the agent device comprising:

user-information storage means for storing ID information of a userusing the user device, information regarding the user, and informationregarding settlement means held by the user, in association with eachother;

purchase-instruction receiving means for receiving, as a first purchaseinstruction, from the user device, information regarding the product tobe purchased by the user on sale in the merchant site and the IDinformation of the user;

user-information extraction means for searching the user-informationstorage means for use information based on the ID information includedin the first purchase instruction, and extracting correspondinginformation regarding the user and corresponding information regardingsettlement means;

inquiry means for inquiring of the settlement device whether thesettlement means is valid, based on the information regarding thesettlement means and being extracted by the user-information extractionmeans;

purchase-instruction sending means for sending, as a second purchaseinstruction, to the merchant site, the information regarding the userand being extracted by the user-information extraction means andinformation representing that inquiring is performed by the inquirymeans, together with the information regarding the product and beingincluded in the first purchase instruction received by the purchaseinstruction receiving means; and

settlement requesting means for requesting the settlement device forsetting a bill for a purchased product, based on the informationregarding a product and being included in the second purchaseinstruction received by the purchase-instruction receiving means and theinformation regarding the settlement means and being extracted by theuser-information extraction means.

In order to achieve the above objects, according to the seventh aspectof the present invention, there is provided an agent device comprising:a memory for storing a program; a processor for executing the program; acommunications device for transmitting/receiving information with amerchant site served up on Internet, a user device used by a userpurchasing a product on sale online in the merchant site, and asettlement device for settling an account for a product purchased inaccordance with a purchase instruction from the user device; and adatabase for registering ID information of the user using the userdevice, information regarding the user, and information regardingsettlement means held by the user, and wherein the processor executesthe program stored in the memory, thereby:

controlling the communications device to receive, as a first purchaseinstruction from the user device, the ID information of the usertogether with information regarding a product to be purchased by theuser on sale in the merchant site;

searching the database for user information based on the ID informationincluded in the first purchase instruction received by thecommunications device, and extracting corresponding informationregarding the user and corresponding information regarding settlementmeans;

controlling the communications device to inquire of the settlementdevice whether the settlement means is valid, based on the informationregarding the settlement means and being extracted from the database;

controlling the communications device to send, as a second purchaseinstruction, the information regarding the user and being extracted fromthe database and information representing that the settlement means isinquired, together with the information regarding the product and beingincluded in the first purchase instruction received by thecommunications device to the merchant site; and

controlling the communications device to request the settlement devicefor settling an account for a purchased product included in the firstpurchase instruction received by the communications device, based on theinformation regarding the settlement means of the user and beingextracted from the database.

In order to achieve the above objects, according to the eighth aspect ofthe present invention, there is provided an agent device which isconnected to a user device for browsing a merchant site served up onInternet, the merchant site, and a settlement device for settling anaccount for a product purchased in accordance with a purchaseinstruction from the user device, the agent device comprising:

user-information storage means for storing ID information of a userusing the user device, information regarding the user and informationregarding settlement means held by the user, in association with eachother;

purchase-instruction receiving means for receiving, as a first purchaseinstruction from the user device, the ID information of the usertogether with information regarding a product to be purchased by theuser, of a plurality of products on sale online in the merchant site;

user-information extraction means for searching the user-informationstorage means for user information based on the ID information includedin the first purchase instruction, and extracting correspondinginformation regarding the user and the corresponding informationregarding the settlement means;

obtaining means for obtaining convenient settlement means, for use onlyin settlement of the account for the product purchased in accordancewith the first purchase instruction received by the purchase instructionreceiving means, and which differs from the settlement means of the userwhich is extracted by the user-information extraction means;

purchase-instruction sending means for sending, as a second purchaseinstruction, the information regarding the user and being extracted bythe user-information extraction means, together with the informationregarding the product and being included in the first purchaseinstruction received by the purchase instruction receiving means, to themerchant site; and

settlement requesting means for requesting the settlement device forsettlement of an account for the product purchased by the user, based onthe information regarding the product and being included in the firstpurchase instruction received by the purchase-instruction receivingmeans, and the information regarding the settlement means of the userand being extracted by the user-information extraction means. In orderto achieve the above objects, according to the ninth aspect of thepresent invention, there is provided an agent device comprising: amemory for storing a program; a processor for executing the program; acommunications device for transmitting/receiving information with amerchant site served up on Internet, a user device used by a userpurchasing a product on sale online in the merchant site, and asettlement device for settling an account for a product purchased inaccordance with a purchase instruction sent from the user; and adatabase for registering ID information of the user using the userdevice, information regarding the user, and information regardingsettlement means held by the user, and wherein the processor executesthe program stored in the memory, thereby:

controlling the communications device to receive, as a first purchaseinstruction, the ID information of the user, together with informationregarding the product to be purchased by the user on sale in themerchant site, from the user device;

searching the database for user information based on the ID informationincluded in the first purchase instruction received by thecommunications device, and extracting corresponding informationregarding the user and corresponding information regarding settlementmeans;

obtaining convenient settlement means, for use only in settlement of theaccount for the product purchased by the user in accordance with thefirst purchase instruction received by the communications device, andwhich differs from the settlement means of the user which is extractedby the user-information extraction means;

controlling the communications device to send, as a second purchaseinstruction to the merchant site, the user information extracted fromthe database and information regarding the convenient settlement meansas settlement means for the account, together with the informationregarding the product and being included in the first purchaseinstruction received by the communications device; and

controlling the communications device to request the settlement devicefor settling the account for the purchased product included in the firstpurchase instruction received by the communications device, based on theinformation regarding the settlement means of the user and beingextracted from the database.

In order to achieve the above objects, according to the tenth aspect ofthe present invention, there is provided a method executed in a computerdevice, which is connected to a user device for reading a merchant siteserved up on Internet, the merchant site, and a settlement device forsettling an account for a product purchased in accordance with apurchase instruction from the user device, the method comprising:

a step of pre-registering ID information of a user using the userdevice, user information regarding the user, and information regardingsettlement means held by the user;

a step of receiving, as a first purchase instruction, ID information ofthe user together with information regarding a product to be purchasedby the user on sale in the merchant site, from the user device;

a step of searching the database based on the ID information included inthe received first purchase instruction, and extracting correspondinginformation regarding the user and corresponding information regardingthe settlement means;

a step of inquiring of the settlement device whether the settlementmeans is valid, based on the information regarding the settlement meansof the user and being extracted from the database;

a step of sending, as a second purchase instruction, the informationregarding the user and being extracted from the database and informationrepresenting that the settlement means is inquired, together with theinformation regarding the product and being included in the receivedfirst purchase instruction, to the merchant site; and

a step of requesting the settlement device for settling an account forthe purchased product included in the received purchase instruction,based on the information regarding the settlement means of the user andbeing extracted from the database.

In order to achieve the above objects, according to the eleventh aspectof the present invention, there is provided a method executed in acomputer device, which is connected to a user device for reading amerchant site served up on Internet, the merchant site, and a settlementdevice for settling an account for a product purchased in accordancewith a purchase instruction from the user device, the method comprising:

a step of pre-registering, in a database, ID information of a user usingthe user device, user information regarding the user, and informationregarding settlement means held by the user, in association with eachother;

a step of receiving, as a first purchase instruction, the ID informationof the user from the user device, together with information regarding aproduct to be purchased by the user on sale in the merchant site;

a step of searching the database for the user information based on theID information included in the received first purchase instruction, andextracting corresponding information regarding the user andcorresponding information regarding the settlement means;

a step of obtaining convenient settlement means, for use in settlementof the account for the product purchased in accordance with the receivedfirst purchase instruction, and which differs from the settlement meansof the user and being extracted from the user-information extractionmeans;

a step of sending, as a second purchase instruction, informationregarding the user and being extracted from the database and informationregarding the convenient settlement means as settlement means forsettling the account for the product, together with the informationregarding the product and being included in the received first purchaseinstruction; and

a step of requesting the settlement device for settling the account forthe product included in the received first purchase instruction, basedon the information regarding the settlement means of the user and beingextracted from the database.

In order to achieve the above objects, according to the twelfth aspectof the present invention, there is provided a computer readablerecording medium recording a program making a computer device, which isconnected onto Internet and capable of browsing a merchant site servedup the Internet, function as:

purchase-instruction inputting means for inputting an instruction forpurchasing a product on sale in the browsed merchant site;

product-information extraction means for extracting informationregarding a product to be purchased and information regarding specifiedsettlement means from contents of the browsed merchant site, when theinstruction is input from the purchase-instruction inputting means; and

purchase-instruction sending means for sending, as a purchaseinstruction, the information regarding the product and being extractedby the product-information extraction means and the informationregarding the settlement means, together with ID information of a user,to an agent device, which is prepared separately from the merchant siteand intermediates in a purchase process between the user and themerchant site.

In the computer readable recording medium, the program may make thecomputer device further function as:

merchant-site determination means for determining whether a merchantsite is being browsed; and

instruction-input permission means for permitting an input of aninstruction from the purchase-instruction inputting means, when themerchant-site determination means determined that the merchant site isbeing browsed.

In order to achieve the above objects, according to the thirteenthaspect of the present invention, there is provided a computer readablerecording medium recording a program making a computer device, connectedto a user device for browsing a merchant site served up on Internet, themerchant site, and a settlement device for settling an account for aproduct purchased in accordance with a purchase instruction from theuser device, function as:

user-information storage means for storing ID information of a userusing the user device, user information of the user, and informationregarding settlement means held by the user, in association with eachother;

purchase-instruction receiving means for receiving, as a first purchaseinstruction from the user device, the ID information of the user,together with information regarding a product to be purchased by theuser on sale in the merchant site;

user-information extraction means for searching the user-informationstorage means for the user information based on the ID informationincluded in the first purchase instruction, and extracting correspondinginformation regarding the user and corresponding information regardingsettlement means, when the purchase-instruction receiving means receivesa first purchase instruction;

inquiry means for inquiring of the settlement device whether thesettlement means is valid, based on the information regarding thesettlement means of the user and being extracted by the user-informationextraction means;

purchase-instruction sending means for sending, as a second purchaseinstruction, the information regarding the user and being extracted bythe user-information extraction means and information representing thatinquiring is performed by the inquiry means, together with theinformation regarding the product included in the first purchaseinstruction received by the purchase-instruction receiving means, to themerchant site; and

settlement requesting means for requesting the settlement device forsettling an account for a product, based on the information regardingthe product and being included in the second purchase instructionreceived by the purchase-instruction receiving means, and theinformation regarding the settlement means of the user and beingextracted by the user-information extraction means.

In order to achieve the above objects, according to the fourteenthaspect of the present invention, there is provided a computer readablerecording medium recording a program which makes a computer device,which is connected to a user device for browsing a merchant site servedup on Internet, the merchant site, and a settlement device for settlingan account for a product purchased in accordance with a purchaseinstruction from the user device, function as:

user-information storage means for storing ID information of a userusing the user device, user information of the user, and informationregarding settlement means held by the user, in association with eachother;

purchase-instruction receiving means for receiving, as a first purchaseinstruction, the ID information of the user, together with informationregarding a product to be purchased by a user on sale in the merchantsite, from the user device;

user-information extraction means for searching the user-informationstorage means for user information based on the ID information of theuser and being included in the first purchase instruction, andextracting corresponding information regarding the user and informationregarding the settlement means, when the purchase-instruction receivingmeans receives the first purchase instruction;

obtaining means for obtaining convenient settlement means, for use onlyin settlement of an account for a product purchased in accordance withthe first purchase instruction received by the purchase-instructionreceiving means, and which differs from the settlement means of the userextracted by the user-information extraction means;

purchase-instruction sending means for sending, as a second purchaseinstruction, the information regarding the user extracted by theuser-information extraction means, and information regarding theconvenient settlement means as settlement means for settling an accountfor a product, together with the information regarding the productincluded in the first purchase instruction received by the purchaseinstruction receiving means; and

settlement requesting means for requesting the settlement device forsettling an account for a purchased product, based on the informationregarding the product and being included in the first purchaseinstruction received by the purchase instruction receiving means, andthe information regarding the settlement means of the user and beingextracted by the user-information extraction means.

In order to achieve the above objects, according to the fifteenth aspectof the present invention, there is provided a program data signalembodied in a carrier wave and transmitted through a communicationspath, the signal making a computer device, which is connected toInternet and can browse a merchant site served up on Internet, functionas:

purchase-instruction inputting means for inputting an instruction forpurchasing a product on sale in the browsed merchant site;

product-information extraction means for extracting informationregarding a product to be purchased and information regarding specifiedsettlement means from contents of the browsed merchant site; and

purchase-instruction sending means for sending, as a purchaseinstruction, the information regarding the product and being extractedby the product information extraction means and the informationregarding the settlement means, together with ID information of acorresponding user to an agent device which is prepared separately fromthe merchant site and intermediates in a purchase process between theuser and the merchant site.

In order to achieve the above objects, according to the sixteenth aspectof the present invention, there is provided a program data signalembodied in a carrier wave and transmitted through a communication path,the signal making a computer device, which is connected to a user devicefor browsing a merchant site served up on Internet, the merchant site,and a settlement device for settling an account for a product purchasedin accordance with a purchase instruction from the user device, functionas:

user-information storage means for storing ID information of a userusing the user device, user information of the user, and informationregarding settlement means held by the user, in association with eachother;

purchase-instruction receiving means for receiving, as a first purchaseinstruction, the ID information of the user together with informationregarding a product to be purchased by a user on sale in the merchantsite, from the user device;

user-information extraction means for searching the user-informationstorage means for user information based on the ID information includedin the first purchase instruction, and extracting correspondinginformation regarding the user and information regarding the settlementmeans, when the purchase-instruction receiving means receives the firstpurchase instruction;

inquiry means for inquiring of the settlement device whether thesettlement means is valid, based on information regarding settlementmeans of the user extracted by the user-information extraction means;

purchase-instruction sending means for sending, as a second purchaseinstruction, the information regarding the user and being extracted bythe user-information extraction means and information representing thatinquiring is performed by the inquiry means, to the merchant site; and

settlement requesting means for requesting the settlement device forsettling an account for a purchased product, based on the informationregarding the product and being included in the second purchaseinstruction received by the purchase-instruction receiving means and theinformation regarding settlement means of the user extracted by theuser-information extraction means.

In order to achieve the above objects, according to the seventeenthaspect of the present invention, there is provided a program data signalembodied in a carrier wave and transmitted through a communicationspath, the signal making a computer device, which is connected to a userdevice for browsing a merchant site served up on Internet, the merchantsite, and a settlement device for settling an account for a productpurchased in accordance with a purchase instruction from the userdevice, function as:

user-information storage means for storing ID information of a userusing the user device, user information of the user, and informationregarding settlement means held by the user, in association with eachother;

purchase-instruction receiving means for receiving, as a first purchaseinstruction, the ID information of the user together with informationregarding a product to be purchased by the user on sale in the merchantsite, from the user device;

user-information extraction means for searching the user-informationstorage means for the user information based on the ID information ofthe user included in the first purchase instruction, and extractingcorresponding information regarding the user and correspondinginformation regarding the settlement means, when the purchaseinstruction receiving means receives the first purchase instruction;

obtaining means for obtaining convenient settlement means, for use onlyin settling an account of a product purchased in accordance with thefirst purchase instruction received by the purchase instructionreceiving means, and which differs from the settlement means of the userextracted by the user-information extraction means;

purchase-instruction sending means for sending, as a second purchaseinstruction, the information regarding the user extracted by theuser-information extraction means and the information regarding theconvenient settlement means as settlement means for settling the accountfor the purchased product, together with the information regarding theproduct included in the first purchase instruction received by thepurchase-instruction receiving means, to the merchant site; and

settlement requesting means for requesting the settlement device forsettling the account for the purchased product, based on the informationregarding the product included in the first purchase instructionreceived by the purchase-instruction receiving means and the informationregarding the settlement means of the user extracted by the userinformation extraction means.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These objects and other objects and advantages of the present inventionwill become more apparent upon reading of the following detaileddescription and the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1A is a diagram showing a flow of information to be transmittedonline in an online shopping system according to the first embodiment ofthe present invention;

FIG. 1B is a diagram showing the flow of information, products, money,etc. to be dealt mainly off-line in the online shopping system accordingto the first embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the structure of a user terminal shownin FIG. 1A;

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a browser window and an agent window whichare displayed on a display device of the user terminal shown in FIG. 1A;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the structure of an agent server shownin FIG. 1A;

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the structure of a user information databaseshown in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a process to be carried out by agentsoftware installed in the user terminal shown in FIGS. 1A and 2;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a process to be carried out by an agentserver shown in FIGS. 1A and 4;

FIG. 8A is a diagram showing a flow of information to be dealt online inan online shopping system according to the second embodiment of thepresent invention; and

FIG. 8B is a diagram showing a flow of information and products, money,etc. to be dealt mainly off-line in the online shopping system accordingto the second embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be explainedwith reference to the accompanying drawings. In this specification, theterm “product” includes not only tangible goods, but also intangiblegoods, for example, services, intellectual property, information, etc.Additionally, the term “online shopping” indicates a merchant style,wherein users order online any products to be delivered online oroffline.

First Embodiment

FIG. 1A shows the flow of information to be transmitted online in theonline shopping system according to the first embodiment of the presentinvention. FIG. 1B shows the flow of information, products, money, etc.to be dealt mainly offline in the online shopping system.

This online shopping system comprises, as shown in FIG. 1A, a userterminal 1, an agent server 2, a merchant site 3, and a server 4 of acredit-card company. The user terminal 1, the agent server 2, themerchant site 3, and the server 4 of a credit-card company are owned bya user 10, an agent 20, a shop 30, and a credit-card company 40,respectively. Note that the user 10 is not necessarily owned by the user10, as long as the user 10 operates the user terminal 1. The userterminal 1, the agent server 2 and the merchant site 3 are connectedwith each other through the Internet. The agent server 2 and the server4 are connected with each other through a private line.

The user terminal 1 includes a personal computer connectable to theInternet, PDA (Portable Digital Assistant), cellular phone, etc. Theuser terminal 1 displays contents provided by the merchant site 3 to theuser 10 who can then browse the contents, and sends an instructionnecessary for the user 10 to purchase a particular product (hereinafter,referred to as a purchase instruction) to the agent server 2. The userterminal 1 is prepared also for inputting user information including thename, address, credit-card number of the user 10, etc., and sending theinput user information to the agent server 2. The user terminal 1 willspecifically be described later.

The agent server 2 is a computer prepared for the agent 20 tointermediate between the user 10 and the shop 30 to help theirtransaction. The agent server 2 forwards the purchase instruction to themerchant site 3, and sends an instruction (hereinafter, referred to as asettlement instruction) for settling a bill for the product purchased bythe user on-line to the server 4. The agent server 2 will specificallybe described later. The merchant site 3 is one of Web sites served onthe Internet, and provides the contents for the user 10 to purchase aproduct on-line. The server 4 of the credit-card company is cooperativewith the agent server 2, and is a computer for processing any processfor the credit-card company 40 to settle an account for the productspurchased by holders of a credit card.

In the case where the user 10 purchases a product using the onlineshopping system, the product for which the user 10 has sent the purchaseinstruction is delivered to the user 10 from the shop 30 offline. Thecredit-card company 40 issues a bill for the product to the user 10. Theuser 10 pays for the product to the credit-card company 40. The paymentfor the product to the shop 30 is done by the credit-card company 40instead of the user 10.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the structure of the user terminal 1shown in FIG. 1A. As shown in FIG. 2, the user terminal comprises a CPU(Central Processing Unit) 11, a memory 12, an input device 13, a displaydevice 14, a communications device 15, and a disk drive 16. The memory12 includes a storage area for browser software 120 and a storage areafor agent software 125.

The CPU 11 executes the programs stored in the memory 12. The CPU 11controls inputs, outputs, data communications, etc., so as to executethe process necessary for the user 10 to perform the online shoppingoperation. The memory 12 stores programs including the browser software120 and agent software 125, and is used as a work area while the CPU 11executes any program.

The browser software 120 is a program generally for use in displayingthe contents served up on the Internet. The agent software 125 isactivated as a background process along with the activation of thebrowser software 120. The agent software 125 monitors the contents to bedisplayed under the control of the browser software 120. In the casewhere the display contents are those for the merchant site 3, the agentsoftware 125 controls to display an agent window, as will be explainedlater, on the display device 14. The browser software 120 and the agentsoftware 125 will further be explained later.

The input device 13 includes a keyboard and a pointing device, such as amouse, and inputs an instruction from the user 10. The input device 13may have a microphone, and may be one for inputting an instruction upona predetermined voice produced by the user. The display device 14includes a CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) or an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display),and displays the contents retrieved from the merchant site 3 through thebrowser software 120. The communications device 14 includes a modem orthe like, and performs data communications with the agent server 2 andthe merchant site 3.

The disk drive 16 reads out data recorded on a disk 17 as a computerreadable recording medium including a CD-ROM, DVD, etc., under thecontrol of the CPU 11, and forwards the read data to the memory 12. Thebrowser software 120 and/or the agent software 125 may be stored on thedisk 17, and read out by the disk drive 16 from the disk 17 so as to bestored in the memory 12. The browser software 120 and/or the agentsoftware 125 may be embedded in a carrier wave from a Web site served upon the Internet, transmitted through the Internet so as to be receivedby the communications device 15, and stored in the memory 12.

The browser software 120 and the agent software 125 will now bedescribed in accordance with the display screen on the display device14. As shown in FIG. 3, when the user terminal 1 accesses the merchantsite 3, a browser window 121 for displaying contents 122 of the merchantsite 3 and an agent window 126 for the user 10 inputting a purchaseinstruction are displayed on the display device 14.

The contents 122 in the browser window 121 include a “Purchase” button123. This “Purchase” button 123 is one for sending a purchaseinstruction, as selected by the user 10, to the merchant site 3. This“Purchase” button 123 is the same as one conventionally employed in theonline shopping.

The agent window 126, as well, includes a “Purchase” button 127. This“Purchase” button 127 is one for sending a purchase instruction to themerchant site 3 through the agent server 2, but not for directly sendingthe instruction to the merchant site 3. When the user clicks the mousein the state where a mouse cursor 130 is placed on the “Purchase” button127, the agent software 125 obtains information (including a name of aproduct to be purchased, its product code, the number of the product tothe purchased, a receiver of the purchase instruction, etc.) regardingthe contents 122 in the browser window 126. Then, the agent software 125sends the obtained information to the agent server 2.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the structure of the agent server 2 ofFIG. 1A. As illustrated in FIG. 4, the agent server 2 comprises a CPU21, a memory 22, a communications device 23, a disk drive 24, a userinformation database 26, and a credit-card company information database27.

The CPU 21 executes the program stored in the memory 22, and, uponreception of the purchase instruction for a particular product from theuser terminal 1, carries out the process necessary for the user 10 topurchase the product. The memory 22 stores the program executed by theCPU 21, and serves as a work area while the CPU 21 executes the program.The communications device 23 performs data communications with the userterminal 1 and the merchant site 3 through the Internet and with theserver 4 through a private line.

The disk drive 24 reads out the data stored on the disk 25, and forwardsthe read data into the memory 22, under the control of the CPU 21. Theprogram stored in the memory 22 may be one which has been stored on thedisk 25 and distributed therefrom, or one which has been embedded in acarrier wave from a Web site on the Internet so as to be transmittedthrough the Internet.

The user information database 26 is a database which records informationregarding the user 10 using a technique for settling an account forpurchased product(s) provided by the agent server 2 (the agent 20). Theuser information database 26 will specifically be described later. Thecredit-card company information database 27 is a database which storesinformation regarding the server 4 or the credit card company 40.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the structure of the user informationdatabase 26. As shown in FIG. 6, the user information database 26registers data in the form of a table. In the database 26, each record(a row in the table) includes fields of “User ID”, “Password (PW)”,“User Name”, “Any other User Attribute” (denoted by “ . . . ” in theillustration), “Credit Card Company”, and “Credit Card Number”.

A user ID is used for identifying the user 10. When the information (theinformation shown on the right-hand side with respect to the field of“Name of User 10” in the table of FIG. 5) regarding the user 10 isregistered in the user information database 26, the user ID is issued bythe CPU 21 in accordance with a predetermined rule, and registered inassociation with the information regarding the user 10. A password isused for verifying whether the user 10 having sent the purchaseinstruction from the user terminal 1 is a proper user.

The data registered in the field of “User Name” represents the name ofthe user 10. In the field of “User Attribute”, data including theaddress, age, telephone number, birthday of the user is registered. Inthe field of “Credit Card Company”, the credit card company which hasissued the credit card held by the user is registered. In the field of“Credit Card Number”, the number of the credit card held by the user 10is registered. In the case where a single user 10 holds a plurality ofcredit cards, data regarding each credit card is registered in thedatabase 26 in the unit of one record in association with the user 10.

Processes to be carried out in the online shopping system according tothis embodiment will now be described. To settle the bill for anyproduct purchased by a user 10 using the online shopping system of thisembodiment with a credit card, the user information regarding the user10 is necessarily registered in advance in the user information database26. The registration of the user information into the user informationdatabase 26 can be achieved in accordance with any one of the followingexamples.

In the first example, prior to the registration of the user information,the user 10 sends a request for a predetermined registration form to theagent 20 so as to acquire the registration form therefrom. The user 10fills in the registration form with user information regardinghim/herself, and sends back the registration form to the agent 20. Uponreception of this registration from, an operator of the agent 20 inputsthe user information written in the registration form through an inputdevice (not illustrated), so as to register the user information in theuser information database 26. During this registration, the user ID anda initial password are issued. The issued user ID and the initialpassword are registered in the user information database 26 inassociation with each other, and delivered to the user 10 from the agent20. The user 10 operates the input device 13, so as to set the delivereduser ID in the agent software 125, thereby enabling to purchase productsonline.

In the second example, a predetermined page for registration is acquiredby accessing the agent server 2 through the Internet from the userterminal 1. The user 10 operates the input device 13 to fill in the pagewith user information, and sends back the page from the user terminal 1.Upon reception of the filled page, the agent server 2 extracts the userinformation filled by the user in the page, and registers the extracteduser information in the user information database 26. During thisregistration, a user ID and an initial password are issued. The issueduser ID and the initial password are registered in the user informationdatabase in association with each other, and sent to the user terminal 1through the Internet. After this, the user 10 performs a process forsetting the received user ID in the agent software 125, thereby enablingto purchase products online.

In the third example, when the user 10 purchases a package programincluding the agent software 125, user registration is processed in thecustomer-support of the company selling the package program. Those itemsfor the user registration includes the credit-card number of the user10. In this case, when registering the package program online oroffline, the agent server 2 can simultaneous register the userinformation into the user information database 26. In the case where theuser 10 purchases a package program including the agent software 125from the agent server 2 online, the agent server 2 requests the user 10to input his/her name and address so as to perform the aboveregistration, because the user 10 might have already input the creditcard number used for purchasing the package program.

In the fourth example, if the agent 20 having a function as the agentserver 2 is an Internet service provide, the agent server 2 may registernecessary information, included in the user information provided by theuser when signing a contract, in the user information database 26, asuser information for the online shopping.

In the online shopping system according to this embodiment, explanationswill now be made to processes for purchasing a product on sale in themerchant site 3 online. Those processes includes: 1) a process carriedout in the user terminal 1; and 2) a process carried out in the agentserver 2.

1) Process Carried Out in User Terminal 1

The user 10 operates the input device 13 to input an instruction foractivating the browser software 120. In response to this instruction,the browser software 120 is activated, and the agent software 125 isactivated as well. The browser software 120 and the agent software 125are parallelly operated in the user terminal 1. The browser software 120is for use in accessing a merchant site, etc., by inputting itscorresponding URL, and the same as the browser software which isgenerally used. In this specification, operations of the agent software125 will be described, and operations of the browser software 120 willnot particularly be described.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a process to be carried out by the agentsoftware 125 in the user terminal 1. The CPU 11 executes the agentsoftware 125, thereby to determine whether the contents 122 displayed inthe browser window 121 are to somehow represent the merchant site 3(Step S11). This determination can be achieved by, for example,searching a predetermined keyword, and performing predetermined naturallanguage processing into sentences of the contents 122.

In the case where the contents 122 are to represent the merchant site 3,the CPU 11 displays the agent window 126 on the display device 14 (StepS12). Note that if the agent window 126 has already been displayed, itsimply continues to be displayed thereon. After this, the CPU 11determines whether the user 10 has clicked on the “Purchase” button 127in the agent window 126 (Step S13).

In the case where the “Purchase” button 127 has been clicked, the CPU 11extracts information (including type of product to be purchased, thenumber of products, price, specified credit card company, etc) which isnecessary for specifying to purchase a particular product (Step S14).The CPU 11 processes the user ID set into the agent software 125, thepassword input by the user 10 through the input device 13, and theinformation extracted in the step S14, into a predetermined data format.Then, the CPU 11 controls the communications device 15 to send theprocessed data as a purchase instruction to the agent server 2 throughthe Internet (Step S15), and the flow advances to the procedure of StepS17. In the case where the “Purchase” button has not been clicked in thestep S13, the flow advances to the procedure of Step S17.

When determined that the contents 122 are not to represent the merchantsite 3 in Step S11, the CPU 11 closes the agent window 126 displayed onthe display device 14 (Step S16). If the agent window 126 had not beendisplayed before that, it is continuously not to be displayed, and theflow advance to Step S17.

In the step S17, the CPU 11 determines whether the browser software 120has been terminated. In the case where the browser software 120 has notbeen terminated, and it is still in an activation state, the flowreturns to the procedure of Step S11, wherein the determination ofwhether the contents 122 are to represent the merchant site 3. On thecontrary, if the browser software 120 has been terminated, the CPU 11also terminates the agent software 125.

During the above-described procedures, when the contents 122 displayedin the browser window 121 are switched to represent the merchant site 3,the agent window 126 is displayed on the display device 14, whereby theuser can input a purchase instruction for a particular product. On theother hand, when the contents 122 are switched to represent some kind ofa site other than the merchant site 3, the agent window 126 is notdisplayed on the display device 14.

2) Process Carried Out by Agent Server 2

In the agent server 2, the program shown in the flowchart of FIG. 7 isalways executed, for receiving a purchase instruction from the userterminal 1, forwarding the received purchase instruction to the merchantsite 3, and sending a settlement instruction to the server 4.

The CPU 21 determines whether the purchase instruction (refer to thestep S15) sent from the user terminal 1 through the Internet has beenreceived by the agent server 2 (Step S21). In the case where it isdetermined that the purchase instruction is not received, the CPU 21repeats the procedure of the step S21, and waits for the purchaseinstruction to be received. In the case where it is determined that thepurchase instruction is received, the CPU 21 searches the userinformation database 26 for corresponding user information based on auser ID included in the received purchase instruction, and retrieves allrecords which correspond to the user ID (Step S22).

The CPU 21 compares the password in the retrieved records with apassword included in the purchase instruction, and determines whetherthe user 10 has been verified based on the password (Step S23). When itis determined that the user 10 has been verified, the CPU 21 comparesthe credit card company in each of the retrieved records with the creditcard company included in the purchase instruction. Then, the CPU 21determines whether there is a correspondence between the two, i.e.whether the user 10 having sent the purchase instruction holds thecredit card of a company specified in the merchant site 3 (Step S24).

In the case where a corresponding credit card company is detected, i.e.where the user 10 holds the specified credit card, the CPU 21 controlsthe communications device 23 to send the credit card number to theserver 4 through a private line. The CPU 21 inquires the validity of thecredit card number (Step S25). Then, the CPU 21 determines whether thecredit card number is valid, based on the inquired result sent from theserver 4 (Step S26).

When determined that the credit card is valid, the CPU 21 processesinformation (including the name, address, telephone number, credit cardnumber of the user 10, information representing that his/her credit cardnumber has already been inquired, type of product to be purchased,number of the products to be purchased, and its price) which isnecessary for purchasing any product, into a predetermined data format.Then, the CPU 21 controls the communications device 23 to send theprocessed data as a purchase instruction to the merchant site 3 throughthe Internet (Step S27). After this, the CPU 21 waits for confirmationto be sent from the merchant site 3 in response to the sent purchaseinstruction (Step S28).

Upon reception of the confirmation from the merchant site 3, the CPU 21processes information (including the credit card number, the name of theuser 10, the total price, the name of the merchant site 3 (the shop 30)providing the purchased product, etc.) which is necessary for settlingthe bill, into a predetermined data format. In addition, the CPU 21controls the communications device 23 to send the processed data as asettlement instruction to the server 4 through the private line (StepS29). The flow returns to the procedure of the step S21, wherein the CPU21 waits for another purchase instruction as sent from the user terminal10.

When determined that the user 10 has not been verified n the step S23,the CPU 21 controls the communications device 23 to send a message forinforming the user terminal 1 of the failure of verification ofauthenticity through the Internet (Step S30). After this, the flowreturns to the procedure of the step S21, wherein the CPU 21 waits foranother purchase information, as will be sent from the user terminal 1.

When determined, in the step S24, that the user does not hold a creditcard specified in the merchant site 3, the CPU 21 controls thecommunications device 23 to send a message for informing the userterminal 1 of the fact that the user does not hold the specified creditcard (Step S31). Then, the flow returns to the procedure of the stepS21, wherein the CPU 21 waits for another purchase instruction as willbe sent from the user terminal 10.

When it is determined that the credit card of the user 10 is not valid,based on the inquired result in the server in the step S26, the CPU 21controls the communications device 23 to send a message for informingthe user terminal 1 of the invalidity of the credit card from thecommunications device 23 through the Internet (Step S32). Then, the flowreturns to the procedure of the step S21, wherein the CPU 21 waits foranother purchase instruction, as will be sent from the user terminal 10.

Explanations will now specifically be made to information, products,money, etc. to be dealt in the online shopping system of this embodimentwith reference to FIGS. 1A and 1B. The explanations will be made intothe case where the user 10 purchases a product on sale in the merchantsite 3, and the user 10 settles the bill with a credit card.

In the case where the user 10 uses the online shopping system, the userregisters in advance his/her own user information into the userinformation database 26, in accordance with any one of theabove-described examples.

When purchasing a product, the user 10 accesses the merchant site 3 fromthe user terminal 1 through the Internet, acquires the contents providedby the merchant site 3, and displays the acquired contents on thedisplay device 14 (particularly, in the browser window 121) of the userterminal 1. At this time, the agent window 126 is also displayed on thedisplay device 14.

After this, the user 10 inputs the number of product(s) to be purchasedthrough the input device 13, in accordance with information of thecontents 122. At the same time, the user clicks on the “Purchase” button127 in the agent window 126. Having performed this, the purchaseinstruction including the user ID sent in the user terminal 10 is sentto the agent server 2 from the user terminal 1 through the Internet.

In the agent server 2, user information is searched within the userinformation database 26 in accordance with the received user ID. If theuser 10 holds a credit card which is specified in the merchant site 3, arequest for inquiring the credit card is sent to the server 4 throughthe private line. As a result of the inquiry, in the case where thecredit card can validly be used, a purchase instruction is sent to themerchant site 3 from the agent server 2. Upon reception of confirmationof the purchase instruction from the merchant site 3, the agent server 2sends a settlement instruction to the server 4.

Thereafter, the purchased product is delivered to the user 10 from theshop 30. The payment for the product to the shop 30 is performed by thecredit card company 40. The credit card company 40 issues a bill for thepurchased product with the credit card to the user 10, whereby the user10 is to pay for the purchased product.

As explained above, in the online shopping system according to thisembodiment, if the user 10 once registers the user information includingthe credit card number, etc. before purchasing any product, there is notneed for the user 10 to input the user information again. Whenpurchasing a product, the user 10 simply clicks on the “Purchase” button127 included in the agent window 126, regardless of the type of themerchant site 3. Hence, the trouble process of inputting the userinformation is reduced, thus realizing an easy operation of the onlineshopping system.

Once the information regarding the credit card of the user 10 isregistered into the user information database 26, such information istransmitted only between the agent server 2 and the server 4 through theprivate line. This prevents the leakage of such information onto theInternet, thus enhancing the security in the online shopping system.Furthermore, the information regarding the credit card of the user 10 isnot given to the shop 30 as an establisher of the merchant site 3. Inthis structure, the personal information of the user 10 can be preventedfrom being leaked out to a third party.

Second Embodiment

FIG. 8A shows the flow information to be dealt in an online shoppingsystem of this embodiment, and FIG. 8B shows the flow of information,products, money, etc. to be dealt mainly offline.

The online shopping system of this embodiment differs from that of thefirst embodiment, from one aspect that the agent server 2 is connectedto a plurality of servers 4 a and 4 b of credit card company throughprivate lines, respectively. The merchant site 3 inquires of the servers4 a and 4 b based on a credit card number (a dummy credit card number,as will be explained later) sent from the agent server 2. The paymentfor the purchased product to the shop 30 is done by credit cardcompanies (“A” 40 a, and “B” 40 b).

When a purchase instruction is sent from the user terminal 1, the agentserver 2 issues a dummy credit card number corresponding to the creditcard companies 40 a and 40 b specified in the merchant site 3 forconvenience' sake, instead of sending information representing that thecredit card of the user 10 is validly inquired. The agent server 2 sendsthe issued dummy credit card number as a credit card number of the user10 to the merchant site 3 together with information including the name,address, and such of the user 10 corresponding to the user ID.

The servers 4 a and 4 b verify the dummy credit card number issued bythe agent server 2. The servers 4 a and 4 b sends a responserepresenting that the dummy credit card number is valid, with referenceto the inquiry done by the merchant site 3. The servers 4 a and 4 bcarries out a process necessary for settling an account for thepurchased product, based on the proper credit card number of the usersent from the agent server 2.

The agent server 2 can send confirmation of the verification of thedummy credit card number and an instruction for settling the account tothe servers 4 a and 4 b of the separate credit card companies. The agentserver 2 stores information regarding the issued dummy credit cardnumber and information (each of which includes the price of product(s)purchased by the user) necessary for settling the account for thepurchased product(s), in the credit-card company information database27. The agent 20 as the owner of the agent server 2 makes the creditcard companies 40 a and 40 b settle the balance of the accounts storedin the credit-card company information database 27, at a predeterminedinterval. In order to achieve this process, the agent 20 makes aparticular contract with the credit card companies 40 a and 40 b as theowners of the servers 4 a and 4 b.

The user terminal 1 has the same structure as that of the firstembodiment, and the agent software 125 in the user terminal 1 performsthe same operations as those of the first embodiment. The userinformation database 26 inside the agent server 2 has the same structureas that explained in the first embodiment. The operations in themerchant site 3 are exactly the same as the operations forconventionally performing the online shopping.

Explanations will now specifically be made to the flow of information,products, money, etc. to be dealt in the online shopping systemaccording to the second embodiment, with reference to FIGS. 8A and 8B.The explanations will be made to the case where the user 10 purchases aproduct on sale in the merchant site 3 and settles the bill for thepurchased product with a credit card. Let it be assumed that themerchant site 3 specifies credit cards of only the credit card company“B” 40 b, and the user 10 holds only a credit card of the credit cardcompany “A” 40 a.

Likewise in the first embodiment, the user 10 registers in advancehis/her own user information in the user information database 26.Likewise in the first embodiment, when to purchase a product, the user10 accesses the merchant site 3, input the quantity of the product to bepurchased in accordance with information of the contents 122 of thesite, and clicks on the “Purchase” button 127. Having performed this, apurchase instruction including the user ID set in the user terminal 10is sent to the agent server 2 from the user terminal 1 through theInternet.

The agent server 2 issues, as a dummy credit card number, a credit cardnumber representing the credit card company “B” 40 b specified in themerchant site 3, so as to acquire verification of the dummy credit cardnumber from the server 4 b. The agent server 2 searches the userinformation database 26 for user information of the user 10, inaccordance with the user ID included in the purchase instruction.Further, the agent server 2 creates a purchase instruction collectivelyincluding information regarding the issued dummy credit card number, thename and address of the user, and the product to the purchased. Then,the agent server 2 sends the created purchase instruction to themerchant site 3 through the Internet.

The merchant site 3 inquires of the server 4 b, based on the dummycredit card number included in the received purchase instruction, andsends a bill for the purchased product to the credit card company “B” 40b. The merchant site 3 sends information for confirming that thepurchase instruction has been received to the agent server 2. Uponreception of the confirmation information, the agent server 2 sends aninstruction for settling the account for the purchased product to theserver 4 a corresponding to the credit card held by the user 10. At thesame time, the agent server 2 stores information regarding the purchaseof the product in the credit-card company information database 27.

After this, the purchase product is delivered to the user 10 from theshop 30. The payment for the purchased product to the shop 30 is done bythe credit card company “B” 40 b. The credit card company “A” 40 aissues a bill for the product purchased with the credit card to the user10, whereby the user 10 pays for the product to the credit card company“A” 40 a. The account for the purchased product(s) is settled betweenthe credit companies “A” and “B” in the end, based on the storedinformation of the credit-card company information database 27.

As explained above, in the online shopping system according to thesecond embodiment, a dummy credit card number is issued in the agentserver 2 so as to be sent to the merchant site 3. Hence, even if themerchant site 3 corresponds only to the conventional system, and if acredit card number is necessary for sending a purchase instruction, theuser 10 can still purchase a product on sale in the merchant site 3. Thecredit card information originally kept by the user 10 does not leak outonto the Internet, hence preventing the leakage of the personalinformation of the users 10.

Even if the merchant site 3 does not specify a type of credit card heldby the user 10, as long as the merchant site 3 specifies any type of thecredit cards of the credit card companies 4 a and 4 b which make acontract with the agent 2, the user 10 can still purchase the productwith a dummy credit card number. Having employed the online shoppingsystem according to the second embodiment, the user can purchase aproduct regardless of the type of credit card which is specified by themerchant site 3. This should cause the online shopping system to bewidely accepted and used.

In addition, likewise in the first embodiment, in the online shoppingsystem according to the second embodiment, the user 10 needs to registerhis/her personal information including the credit card number, etc. onlyonce. The same operation for purchasing the product, as performed by theuser 10, is required for any type of the merchant site 3. Hence, thetrouble process of inputting the user information is reduced, thusrealizing an easy operation of the online shopping system.

Modification

In the above-described first embodiment, every time the purchaseinstruction is sent from the user terminal 1, the agent server 2inquires of the credit card corresponding to the user ID included in thereceived purchase instruction to the server 4. However, the agent server2 may acquire information (including credit information) regarding eachcredit card of the user 10, which is registered in the user informationdatabase 26, periodically from the server 4, and store the acquiredinformation in the user information database 26 or the credit-cardcompany information database 27, thereby to easily inquire the creditcard.

In the above-described second embodiment, the agent server 2 issues adummy credit card number, and requests the servers 4 a and 4 b forverification of the issued credit card number. The agent server 2 mayrequest the servers 4 a and 4 b for issuing of a dummy credit cardnumber. In response to this request, the servers 4 a and 4 b may issue adummy credit card number, and give this dummy credit card number to theagent server 2.

In the above-described first and second embodiments, the agent software125 is activated, upon the activation of the browser software 120. Whenthe merchant site is identified, the agent software 125 displays theagent window 126 on the display device 14. However, the agent window 126may always be displayed on the display device 14 during the activationof the browser software 120, without the identifying of the merchantsite. Instead of separately preparing the browser software 120 and theagent software 125, browser software having a function of the agentsoftware 125 may be adapted. The agent software 125 may be activated,upon activation of integrated software having a function for reading thecontents on the Internet or any other application software. The functionof the agent software 125 may be included in the integrated software.

In the above-described first and second embodiments, when the user 10clicks on the “Purchase” button 127 in the agent window 126, thepurchase instruction is to be sent to the agent server 2. However, afunction for sending the purchase instruction to the agent server 2 maybe assigned to a predetermined function key on the keyboard. The agentsoftware 125 monitors whether the “Purchase” button 123 in the contents122 has been clicked. When the “Purchase” button 123 has been clicked,the agent software 125 may send the purchase instruction to the agentserver 2 instead of the merchant site 3.

In the above-described first and second embodiments, the agent server 2and the server 4 (4 a and 4 b) are connected with each other through theprivate line. However, the agent server 2 and the server 4 may beconnected with each other through the Internet. Since the agent 20 andthe credit card company 40 make a contract with each other, acomplicated encryption technique may be applied to the data transmittedonto the Internet. In this structure, the personal information canhighly be prevented from being leaked out, as compared with theconventional online shopping system.

The function of the agent server 2 which has been described in the firstand second embodiments may be provided by an Internet Service Provider.The user terminal 1 and the agent server 2 may be connected with eachother through a public telephone line in the use of dial-up access, forexample. The user terminal 1 and the merchant site 3 may be connectedwith each other through the agent server 2.

In the first and second embodiments, the explanations have been made tothe case where the product on sale in the merchant site 3 is purchasedwith a credit card as settlement means. However, the present inventioncan be adapted to the case where the account is settled using a bankcard (debit card), as settlement means, from the savings.

Various embodiments and changes may be made thereonto without departingfrom the broad spirit and scope of the invention. The above-describedembodiments are intended to illustrate the present invention, not tolimit the scope of the present invention. The scope of the presentinvention is shown by the attached claims rather than the embodiments.Various modifications made within the meaning of an equivalent of theclaims of the invention and within the claims are to be regarded to bein the scope of the present invention.

This application is based on Japanese Patent Application No. 2000-27814filed on Feb. 4, 2000, and including specification, claims, drawings andsummary. The disclosure of the above Japanese Patent Application isincorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

1. An online shopping system comprising: at least one user device whichis connected onto Internet and for reading a merchant site on theInternet; an agent device which is connected to said at least one userdevice and the merchant site, relays and sends a purchase instructionfrom said at least one user device to the merchant site; and asettlement device which is connected to said agent device, and settlesan account for a product purchased in accordance with the purchaseinstruction sent from said at least one user device, said at least oneuser device including purchase-instruction inputting means for inputtingan instruction for purchasing a product on sale in the merchant site,and a first purchase-instruction sending means for sending ID(identification) information of a user, as a first purchase instruction,together with information regarding the product input by saidpurchase-instruction inputting means to said agent device, and saidagent device including user-information storage means for storing the IDinformation, user information regarding the user, and informationregarding settlement means held by the user, in association with eachother, purchase-instruction receiving means for receiving the firstpurchase instruction sent from said first purchase instruction sendingmeans, user-information extraction means for searching saiduser-information storage means for user information based on the IDinformation of the user which is included in the firstpurchase-instruction, and extracting corresponding information regardingthe user and corresponding information regarding the settlement means,when said purchase instruction receiving means receives the firstpurchase instruction, second purchase-instruction sending means forsending, as a second purchase instruction, information regarding theproduct and being included in the first purchase instruction received bysaid purchase-instruction receiving means, and information regarding theuser and being extracted by said user-information extraction means, tothe merchant site, and settlement requesting means for requesting saidsettlement device for settling an account for the purchased product,based on the information regarding the product and being included in thefirst purchase instruction received by said purchase-instructionreceiving means and the information regarding the settlement means ofthe user and being extracted by said user-information extraction means.2. The online shopping system according to claim 1, wherein: said agentdevice further includes inquiry means for inquiring whether thesettlement means is valid, based on the information regarding thesettlement means of the user which is extracted by said user-informationextraction means; and said second purchase-instruction sending means forinserting information representing that inquiring is performed by saidinquiry means into the second purchase instruction, and sending thesecond purchase instruction to the merchant site.
 3. The online shoppingsystem according to claim 1, wherein said agent device and saidsettlement device are connected with each other through a private line.4. An online shopping method for a user of a user device to purchase aproduct on sale in a merchant site, in an online shopping systemcomprising: reading, at said user device which is connected to theInternet, a merchant site on the Internet; replaying and sending, at anagent device connected to said user device and the merchant site, apurchase instruction sent from said user device to the merchant site;settling, at a settlement device connected to said agent device, anaccount for a product purchased in accordance with the purchaseinstruction from said user device; pre-registering ID information of theuser, information regarding the user, and information regardingsettlement means held by the user, in association with each other in adatabase of said agent device; inputting an instruction for purchasing aproduct on sale in the shopping site which is read by said user device;sending, as a first purchase instruction, the ID information of the usertogether with information regarding the input product from said userdevice to said agent device; searching the database for user informationbased on the ID information of the user which is included in the firstpurchase instruction, and extracting corresponding information regardingthe user and corresponding information regarding the settlement means,as performed by said agent device which has received the first purchaseinstruction; sending, as a second purchase instruction, informationregarding the user and being extracted from the database from said agentdevice to the merchant site, together with information regarding theinput product; and requesting, from said agent device, the settlementdevice for settling the account for the input product, based oninformation regarding the settlement means of the user and beingextracted from the database.
 5. A user device which is connected toInternet, browses a merchant site on the Internet, and sends aninstruction for purchasing a product on sale in the merchant site, saiduser device comprising: purchase-instruction inputting means forinputting a purchase instruction of a product on sale in the browsedmerchant site; product-information extraction means for extractinginformation regarding a product to be purchased from contents of thebrowsed merchant site and information regarding specified settlementmeans; and purchase-instruction sending means for sending, as a purchaseinstruction, the information regarding the product and being extractedby said product-information extraction means and the informationregarding the settlement means, together with ID information of a user,to an agent device which is prepared separately from the merchant siteand intermediates in a purchase process between the merchant site andsaid user device.
 6. The user device according to claim 5, furthercomprising: merchant-site determination means for determining whetherthe merchant site is browsed; and instruction-input permission means forpermitting, when said merchant-site determination means determines thatthe merchant site is browsed, an input of an instruction from saidpurchase-instruction inputting means.
 7. The user device according toclaim 5, wherein said purchase-instruction inputting means is preparedseparately from instruction means included in the contents of thebrowsed merchant site.
 8. A user device including a memory for storing aprogram, a processor for executing the program, an input device forinputting an instruction of a user, a display device for displayinginformation, and a communications device for transmitting/receivinginformation with a merchant site served up on Internet, wherein saidprocessor executes the program stored in said memory, thereby: accessingsaid merchant site from said communications device, and controlling saidcommunications device to receive contents of said merchant site;displaying the contents of the merchant site which are received by saidcommunications device on said display device; permitting the user toinput an instruction for purchasing a product on sale in the contents ofthe merchant site which are displayed on said display device; extractinginformation regarding the product to be purchased from the contents ofthe merchant site displayed on said display device and informationregarding specified settlement means; and controlling saidcommunications device to send, as a purchase instruction, the extractedinformation regarding the product and the information regarding thesettlement means, together with ID information of the user to an agentdevice, which is prepared separately from the merchant site andintermediates in a product purchase process between said user device andsaid merchant site.
 9. A method for browsing a merchant site served upon Internet using a computer device, and for sending an instruction forpurchasing a product on sale in the browsed merchant site, said methodcomprising: a step of inputting an instruction for purchasing theproduct on sale in the browsed merchant site; a step of extractinginformation regarding the product to be purchased in the browsedmerchant site and information regarding specified settlement means, whenthe instruction is input; and a step of sending, as a purchaseinstruction, the extracted information regarding the product and theinformation regarding the settlement means, together with ID informationof a user, to an agent device which is prepared separately from themerchant site and intermediates in a purchase process between thecomputer device and the merchant site.
 10. An agent device which isconnected to a user device for browsing a merchant site served up onInternet, the merchant site, and a settlement device for settling anaccount for a product purchased in accordance with a purchaseinstruction from the user device, said agent device comprising:user-information storage means for storing ID information of a userusing said user device, information regarding the user, and informationregarding settlement means held by the user, in association with eachother; purchase-instruction receiving means for receiving, as a firstpurchase instruction, from said user device, information regarding theproduct to be purchased by the user on sale in the merchant site and theID information of the user; user-information extraction means forsearching said user-information storage means for use information basedon the ID information included in the first purchase instruction, andextracting corresponding information regarding the user andcorresponding information regarding settlement means; inquiry means forinquiring of said settlement device whether the settlement means isvalid, based on the information regarding the settlement means and beingextracted by said user-information extraction means;purchase-instruction sending means for sending, as a second purchaseinstruction, to the merchant site, the information regarding the userand being extracted by said user-information extraction means andinformation representing that inquiring is performed by said inquirymeans, together with the information regarding the product and beingincluded in the first purchase instruction received by said purchaseinstruction receiving means; and settlement requesting means forrequesting said settlement device for setting a bill for a purchasedproduct, based on the information regarding a product and being includedin the second purchase instruction received by said purchase-instructionreceiving means and the information regarding the settlement means andbeing extracted by said user-information extraction means.
 11. An agentdevice comprising: a memory for storing a program; a processor forexecuting the program; a communications device fortransmitting/receiving information with a merchant site served up onInternet, a user device used by a user purchasing a product on saleonline in the merchant site, and a settlement device for settling anaccount for a product purchased in accordance with a purchaseinstruction from said user device; and a database for registering IDinformation of the user using the user device, information regarding theuser, and information regarding settlement means held by the user, andwherein said processor executes the program stored in said memory,thereby: controlling said communications device to receive, as a firstpurchase instruction from said user device, the ID information of theuser together with information regarding a product to be purchased bythe user on sale in the merchant site; searching the database for userinformation based on the ID information included in the first purchaseinstruction received by said communications device, and extractingcorresponding information regarding the user and correspondinginformation regarding settlement means; controlling said communicationsdevice to inquire of said settlement device whether the settlement meansis valid, based on the information regarding the settlement means andbeing extracted from the database; controlling said communicationsdevice to send, as a second purchase instruction, the infoii cationregarding the user and being extracted from the database and informationrepresenting that said settlement means is inquired, together with theinformation regarding the product and being included in the firstpurchase instruction received by said communications device to themerchant site; and controlling said communications device to requestsaid settlement device for settling an account for a purchased productincluded in the first purchase instruction received by saidcommunications device, based on the information regarding the settlementmeans of the user and being extracted from the database.
 12. A methodexecuted in a computer device, which is connected to a user device forreading a merchant site served up on Internet, the merchant site, and asettlement device for settling an account for a product purchased inaccordance with a purchase instruction from said user device, saidmethod comprising: a step of pre-registering ID information of a userusing said user device, user information regarding the user, andinformation regarding settlement means held by the user; a step ofreceiving, as a first purchase instruction, ID information of the usertogether with information regarding a product to be purchased by theuser on sale in the merchant site, from said user device; a step ofsearching said database based on the ID information included in thereceived first purchase instruction, and extracting correspondinginformation regarding the user and corresponding information regardingthe settlement means; a step of inquiring of said settlement devicewhether the settlement means is valid, based on the informationregarding the settlement means of the user and being extracted from saiddatabase; a step of sending, as a second purchase instruction, theinformation regarding the user and being extracted from said databaseand information representing that said settlement means is inquired,together with the information regarding the product and being includedin the received first purchase instruction, to the merchant site; and astep of requesting said settlement device for settling an account forthe purchased product included in the received purchase instruction,based on the information regarding the settlement means of the user andbeing extracted from the database.
 13. A computer readable recordingmedium recording a program making a computer device, which is connectedonto Internet and capable of browsing a merchant site served up theInternet, function as: purchase-instruction inputting means forinputting an instruction for purchasing a product on sale in the browsedmerchant site; product-information extraction means for extractinginformation regarding a product to be purchased and informationregarding specified settlement means from contents of the browsedmerchant site, when the instruction is input from saidpurchase-instruction inputting means; and purchase-instruction sendingmeans for sending, as a purchase instruction, the information regardingthe product and being extracted by said product-information extractionmeans and the information regarding the settlement means, together withID information of a user, to an agent device, which is preparedseparately from the merchant site and intermediates in a purchaseprocess between the user and the merchant site.
 14. The computerreadable recording medium according to claim 13, wherein the programmakes the computer device further function as: merchant-sitedetermination means for determining whether a merchant site is beingbrowsed; and instruction-input permission means for permitting an inputof an instruction from said purchase-instruction inputting means, whensaid merchant-site determination means determined that the merchant siteis being browsed.
 15. A computer readable recording medium recording aprogram making a computer device, connected to a user device forbrowsing a merchant site served up on Internet, the merchant site, and asettlement device for settling an account for a product purchased inaccordance with a purchase instruction from said user device, functionas: user-information storage means for storing ID information of a userusing said user device, user information of the user, and informationregarding settlement means held by the user, in association with eachother; purchase-instruction receiving means for receiving, as a firstpurchase instruction from said user device, the ID information of theuser, together with information regarding a product to be purchased bythe user on sale in the merchant site; user-information extraction meansfor searching said user-information storage means for the userinformation based on the ID information included in the first purchaseinstruction, and extracting corresponding information regarding the userand corresponding information regarding settlement means, when saidpurchase-instruction receiving means receives a first purchaseinstruction; inquiry means for inquiring of said settlement devicewhether the settlement means is valid, based on the informationregarding the settlement means of the user and being extracted by saiduser-information extraction means; purchase-instruction sending meansfor sending, as a second purchase instruction, the information regardingthe user and being extracted by said user-information extraction meansand information representing that inquiring is performed by said inquirymeans, together with the information regarding the product included inthe first purchase instruction received by said purchase-instructionreceiving means, to the merchant site; and settlement requesting meansfor requesting said settlement device for settling an account for aproduct, based on the information regarding the product and beingincluded in the second purchase instruction received by saidpurchase-instruction receiving means, and the information regarding thesettlement means of the user and being extracted by saiduser-information extraction means.